Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results — Continued

Goal 4: Provide effective and efficient planning and support for ministry programs.

The objectives for this goal reflect the ministry's commitment to provide corporate leadership and services for ministry programs, and to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and efficient client service.

The ministry continues to focus on improving its performance measures for this goal. The performance measures stated in this Service Plan support the objectives of this goal by monitoring progress regarding deregulation and employee performance and development plans.

Objective 1:

Clear vision, leadership, direction and support for all ministry programs.

This objective will help to ensure that ministry resources are used to address high-priority issues in the most effective and efficient ways. Strategies under this objective focus on the areas of management, planning and regulatory reform.

Strategies:

1. Provide guidance on how the ministry will make decisions about initiatives based on the consideration of all relevant factors, including economic, social and environmental factors.

2. Establish strong strategic policy leadership that focuses on broad directions, continuous improvement and innovation.

3. Undertake strategic planning and provide leadership and support to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to ministry initiatives in all regions of the province (e.g., delivery through an effective committee structure).

4. Eliminate, revise or develop new legislation as appropriate to facilitate delivery of the ministry's strategic shifts and to address deregulation requirements.

5. Continue to guide and support the integration of science and risk management in ministry decision-making.

6. Participate and provide leadership in intergovernmental forums and associated initiatives to achieve provincial objectives (e.g., Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment [CCME], Union of British Columbia Municipalities [UBCM]).

7. Participate in interministry forums to accomplish ministry and governmental objectives (e.g., Partnership Committee on Agriculture and the Environment, the Ministry of Transportation Memorandum of Understanding).

8. Support key government initiatives, such as the government's economic and fiscal strategy, B.C. Public Lands Trust, the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and the acquisition of Burns Bog.

9. Effectively communicate expectations and results to staff, clients and the public.

10. Establish a formalized mechanism for business liaison to address concerns and expedite the resolution of issues.

Performance Measures:

Under this objective, the ministry is using performance measures to assess its effectiveness relative to regulatory reform and risk management.

Regulatory reform: This measure addresses a key government initiative to reduce regulations by 33%. To support this initiative, the ministry has a three-year plan to reduce regulations by 38%, ending on June 30, 2004. The performance targets are based on the ministry's approved deregulation plan. (See the following section, "Related Initiatives," for more information on deregulation.)

Risk management: The ministry has been doing risk management for many years (e.g., assessing risks to habitat and park facilities, as well as assessing risks related to contaminated sites). The ministry's previous Service Plans included strategies to further integrate risk management into ministry business processes. This is now a government-wide requirement. The ministry is piloting a new measure to assess its progress in implementing risk management processes, based on the ministry's risk maturity matrix. (See the following section, "Related Initiatives," and Appendix 2 for more information on the ministry's approach to risk management.)

Benchmark Information: For the deregulation measure, a reduction of 23.8% in the ministry's regulatory count had been achieved as of March 31, 2003.

Objective 2:

Efficient program management, fiscal responsibility and client service.

In order to achieve this objective, the ministry is simultaneously working in a number of areas, as indicated in the strategies below. Attaining this objective is important because it makes more resources available for other ministry initiatives, thus enabling the ministry to make more progress in delivering its mandate.

Strategies:

1. Implement a comprehensive performance management framework, including effective monitoring, reporting and performance measurement.

2. Implement a human resource strategy that acknowledges changing workforce requirements, fosters healthy and knowledgeable staff, and supports achievement of business objectives.

3. Ensure service requirements and fiscal targets are aligned.

4. Work with ministries and others to develop effective agreements and memorandums of understanding to share expertise, services and service facilities across the regions.

5. Identify methods to reduce the costs incurred by those who must meet environmental standards, reduce conflicts and litigation, and eliminate service backlogs.

6. Implement an effective information system strategy.

7. Coordinate environmental assessment referrals for the ministry.

Performance Measures:

Under this objective, the ministry is using two performance measures to assess its effectiveness in addressing issues related to operational management.

Employee performance and development plans: Achieving this objective requires ministry staff to focus on developing key performance and development goals that will enable them to contribute to accomplishing ministry objectives articulated in the Service Plan. A key initiative for ensuring that this occurs is a ministry requirement for all staff to have an Employee Performance and Development Plan (EPDP). This plan identifies what work an employee is accountable for and makes clear links to the ministry's Service Plan. As the EPDP initiative is being implemented, the ministry is using an output measure to indicate the percentage of staff with an EPDP. The ministry is considering that eventually it will move to an outcome measure that shows the extent to which work performed and staff development are consistent with the EPDPs and thus with meeting Service Plan commitments.

Workplace wellness: A survey on workplace wellness was conducted during 2003/04. The ministry will receive a report on the results, and key results may be provided in the next Annual Report. The ministry will work to assess these results and determine the frequency of follow-up surveys to monitor the impact of its human resource strategy.

Benchmark Information: As of March 2003, an estimated 35% of all management staff and roughly 20% of all ministry staff had an EPDP that linked work and development goals to the Service Plan. As of May 31, 2003, 100% of staff had an EPDP. (Source: BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Strategic Human Resources Branch.)